SHEMOS 1991-1

In the Torah portion Shmos we learn how the Jewish people are enslaved in Egypt and we learn about the birth of Moshe and how he is saved by Pharaoh's daughter, Bisia.  That's why so many Jewish girls are called Bessie or Batya because she was an extremely important human being in the history of our people.  She showed that even though she was Pharaoh's daughter she would not suppress her humanity and, therefore, she is the only one in the whole Torah who has the name of G-d associated with her name, Batia, which literally means "the daughter of G-d".  We learn how Moshe Rabbeinu goes out to his people, how when he sees that an Egyptian is persecuting a Jew he slays the Egyptian, and then the next day he goes out and he finds two Jews quarreling and he remonstrates with them for so doing, and they say, "Are you going to kill us like you killed the Egyptian?"  Moshe becomes filled with disgust and he says, "Surely this thing is known."  The rabbis interpret this to mean, "Now I understand why these people deserve slavery," and he flees the country.  Moshe Rabbeinu later marries Jethro's daughter and he settles down to a life as a shepherd.  He is chosen by and to lead the Jewish people out of slavery.  In this Torah portion we learn about leadership.  We learn what is required for a leader.  Moshe is a very reluctant leader.  He does not want to accept this responsibility of being the leader of the Jewish people.  Moshe Rabbeinn, when G-d gives him the message that he is to be the leader of the Jewish people and redeem them from Egypt, says, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, that I should take out the sons of Israel from Egypt?"  Actually, Moshe Rabbeinu is a figure from left field, so to speak.  After all, he never endured one day of slavery.  He probably did not know much about Hebrew and about Jewish customs.  He had been away from Israel for many, many years.  He was a man now of 80 years old.  He had interrmarried outside the faith.  According to the mèdrash, he had agreed to raise his first son as a pagan, so how was he chosen as the leader of the Jewish people? Moshe does not want to accept the leadership.  He is very reluctant to come forward and to help his people.  He knows that he has not been closely associated with them, but G-d choses him just as G-d can chose anyone to come forward and to ac t as a leader.

Moshe gives five reasons why he should not be chosen to be the leader of the Jewish people.  He says, "First of all, who am I? How can You choose me? I am so far afreld from this whole problem now.  I have not participated in slavery.  I have never had one day of slavery in my life." That, of course, is true, but G-d chose Moshe Rabbeinu.  He, first of all, came from a good family.  His father was one of the leaders of the Jewish people.  His brother was the current leader of the Jewish people.  He was raised in Pharaoh's court.  He understood the Egyptian mentality, and, besides that, he was a free man and he would react as a free man and not as a slave to the conditions of Egypt.  He would be able to instill in the Jewish people the leadership which does not grovel, the leadership which can see clearly what a free man can see and what sometimes a s lave cannot see.  It is interesting to note that when Jewish people came to this country in mass a hundred years ago they chose as their leaders not Yiddish speaking people who understood the Jewish culture intimately, but they chose men who were assimilated Jews, who had a Harvard, so to speak, education, because I do not know if they did it correctly in this case, but they knew that they had to be represented in the highest places in this land, and the highest government circles by people who understood America.  So G-d said, "I have chosen you.  You are the man."  Moshe then said, "Well, how do I know that my mission will be accepted by the Jewish people? You want me to free them." And G-d told Moshe the Jewish people have a long tradition that they will be redeemed.  He told him, "Don worry.  They will accept your mission.'" Then Moshe Rabbeinu says that the people will not believe him.  It is true that maybe they understand the mission, but they will not believe that he is the man who was sent to redeem the Jewish people, and G-d said, "Don't, worry.  I will make sure that they believe you." Then Moshe said, "Perhaps I do not have the technical competence to do it.  After all, do not know Hebrew well.  I have been in the Egyptian court for at least 40 years.  I do not have the technical competence to do the job.  I am a stutterer." Of course, the rabbis say that does not mean literally a stutterer.  It means that he does not have the diplomatic skills anymore to do these things.  He is rusty as far as Egyptian culture.  He has just a passing knowledge of Jewish culture.  Why should he be chosen to do the job? G-d said, "Don't worry.  I will make sure you have the technical competence." Then Moshe gives a fifth reason.  He said, "G-d," send please in the hand that you will send."

The rabbis give two interpretations for what this means.  One interpretation 1S that G-d should send Aaron to do the job.  After all, Aaron has been the leader.  He has been with the people in their slavery.  Aaron was 83 years old now.  He knows the ins and outs of the Jewish people, but G-d said, "No, I want you to be," and He got angry at Moshe.  He says, "Your brother realizes that you are needed.  He is going to cooperate with you.  He knows he has to step down, that new times demands a new leader, and you are the leader because not only do the Jewish people have to be brought down out of Egypt, not only have to be brought out of slavery, but the slavery has to be brought out of them, that they have learned all their life to act like a slave and you, Moshe, being a free man, you can show them how to be free.  When you bring them to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah they have to understand what freedom is so that they can practice the Torah as only a free people can practice the Torah." The second interpretation is that Moshe Rabbeinu says, “G-d, why don't You bring the Mashiach now? What do You need me for? Bring the Mashiach now." G-d gets angry at him, too, because why should he say such a thing.  Moshe does not know G-d' s plan, and G-d wants us to help Him bring the Mashiach, that through being compassionate, honest, caring, concerned people who understand what mercy is, we are going to bring the Mashiach.  We have to help G-d do it.  G-d wants be give us the Torah so we can be His teacher in the world, so that we can bring the Mashiach.  In fact, if we look at last week's Torah portion, and many rabbis say there is a hint of the Mashiach when it says, "The sceptor shall not depart from Judah until Shilah will come," and many rabbis, not all but many, explain that this means the Mashiach.  In fact, if you take the letters Yavoh Shiloh and you add their numerical amount they will add up to 358, which is exactly the adding up of the word Mashiach, that when, the Mashiach will come there will be world peace, etc.  Moshe Rabbeinu, if you add up the numbers in his name, it adds up to 345 because in Shiloh, there is a 345 and the Yavoh, "you can come" there is 13, so the rabbis say that Moshe, plus 13, equals the Mashiach.  Thirteen in Hebrew also stands for Echad, for one, because if you take the letters Alelph, Ches, Daled it stands for one.  Moshe Rabbeinu was told that his job was to bring the Jewish people out of Egypt so that they could spread the message of love and wisdom and understanding and knowledge so that the people, themselves, would bring the Mashiich closer.  G-d wants us to have an active part in bringing the Mashiach.  He warns us to help Him perfect this world.  We can only perfect it up to a certain level and then He will bring the Mashiach.  Echad can also stand that Moshe is to teach the people how to be united, how to guard their freedom, and how, at the same time, to cling to each other and cling to G-d, that they should maintain their freedom, that they should maintain their unity, but at the same time they should realize how they need each other and they need G-d.

This, of course, was to be Moshe' s task, and G-d got mad at Moshe when Moshe said, "Send who you will send", because if Moshe was referring to Aaron, Aaron had already agreed that it was time to step down, that he needed help.  In fact, Aaron came to Moshe and met him on the way because he was willing to cooperate with Moshe.  He knew there were new times and if it would be the reason of the Mashiach, G-d got mad at him because who did Moshe dare interfere with His plans for the war Id?  This past week we have witnessed a miracle in the world.  This whole past year has been filled with astounding miracles.  We are so used to them now.  We are inured to them.  We do not recognize them.  The Russian empire disintegrated before our eyes without a fight.  Russia allowed her empire to disintegrate, allowed the other republics that she had dominated, some for over 500 years, to leave without a fight.  The British empire did not disintegrate without a fight.  In India there were terrible fights.  The French empire did not disintegrate without a fight.  In Viet Nam and Algeria there were terrible military clashes, but in Russia, the Soviet Union was dismembered without a fight.  In situations such as this the central government fights to the last ounce of its strength.  Gorbachev did not fight: to the death.  He agreed to dismember the Soviet empire.  It was a big miracle when Eastern Europe was freed without a fight.  Nobody could even believe it.  Here the Russian empire was dismembered without one gunshot.  Such a miracle! Gorbachev realized the time had come and he was willing now to cooperate with Yeltsin.  Aaron was willing to step down from the leadership and to cooperate with Moshe to bring a new day fat the Jewish people.  We see that usually in the world these things do not happen.  Usually we do not learn from history.  In fact, in our own shul, too, we recently had an election and our previous president had done a good job.  There are so many factions in our own shul.  New leadership has stepped to the fore, and we hope that there will be cooperation between the old guard and the new leadership so that our shul will continue to thrive, but usually in world history people do not learn from the past.  They make the same mistakes over and over again, but here, thank G-d, it seems a new day is dawning.  Gorbachev stepped down without a fight.  What a miracle! Let us hope and pray that there will continue to be peace in  the former Russian empire, that one republic will not fight against another, but this central government is not trying to keep them in a union.  Amazing! Miraculous!  Let us hope and pray that we are truly entering a new era, an era which is truly Messianic where the nations of the world will learn that they need unity and freedom and also the realization that they depend one upon another and they should not try to destroy any other kind of people, a new era in which there will be love, in which there will be wisdom, and knowledge.  Let us hope and pray that this is a harbinger of future resolution of conflicts in the world, that the Arab-Israeli conflict will also be settled in such a way that there will be no more bloodshed.

I am reminded of the story they tell about a travel agency who advertised a transatlantic trip through the Mediterranean for $50.  An Irishman came forward and put down his $50, went to the next room and was hit over the head.  An Italian came forward, paid his $50, went to the next room and was hit over the head.  Then a Frenchman came and put down his $50, went to the next room and was hit over the head.  Then an Aggie came, put down his $50, went to the next room and was hit over the head.  Half an hour later they woke up on a raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Italian said, "Well, I hope we are picked up by a ship and I can go to Italy." The Irishman said, "I, too, hope we are picked up by a ship and I can go to Ireland." The Frenchman said, "Well, I, too, hope that I get picked up by a ship and go to France." The Aggie said, "Oh, that will never happen."  They asked him how he knew.  He said, "Because this is my second trip."  Usually in world history dictators and powers and governments do not learn from the past.  Let us hope and pray that from now on they will and that the example that was set by Gorbachev will be set throughout the whole world so that truly peace will come in our day.  Amen.